Caroline Lucy Elton (1809-1882), Lucy Caroline Elton (1809-1888), Catherine Maria Elton (1814-1876) and Maria Catherine Elton (1814-1899)
Thomas Barker (Pontypool 1769 - Bath 1847)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1823 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
610 x 508 mm (24 x 20 in)
Place of origin
Bath
Order this imageCollection
Clevedon Court, North Somerset
NT 624166
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Caroline Lucy Elton (1809-1882), Lucy Caroline Elton (1809-1888), Catherine Maria Elton (1814-1876) and Maria Catherine Elton (1814-1899) by Thomas Barker of Bath (1769-1847), signed and dated 1823. Four full-length portraits of four daughters of Sir Charles Abraham Elton 6th Bt (1778-1853) and Sarah Smith (1782-1830). All are dressed in white high-waisted gowns, the eldest on the left has a blue shawl or cloak tied at her neckline, and the next eldest seated in the centre has a pink shawl draped over her shoulders and a pink scarf tied around her neck. She is apparently reading a book to the others. An indistinct dark shadow creates an arch through which can be seen a cloudy sky in the centre, and on the right is a stone pillar on a pedestal.
Provenance
Purchased from Lady Margaret Ann Elton (1915 – 1995), 1981 with the help of grants from the V&A Purchase Fund and the NHMF
Makers and roles
Thomas Barker (Pontypool 1769 - Bath 1847), artist
References
Clevedon Court [The National Trust] revised 1972, 1974, 1977, 1979, p.28: "The State Room...Grouped round 'The Travellers' Breakfast', the Elton children and their mother re-appear in a series of elegant paintings executed by Thomas Barker, of Bath, in 1823....To the left, the twin sisters, Katherine Maria and Maria Katherine are grouped with the younger twins Caroline Lucy and Lucy Caroline."